6 Ways Teachers Can Improve the Classroom Experience

Just like going to the same office day in and day out gets boring after a while, so does having to learn in the same dull classroom day after day. It doesn’t matter if the students are adults or young kids, teachers and schools need to think of ways to take the classroom experience to the next level. That way, the students will be provided with optimal conditions to better absorb all the knowledge they are being offered. If you are in this situation and don’t really know where to start, take a look below for some inspiration.

Have a Positive Mindset

The first step towards improving the classroom experience is realising that it should start with the teacher. They need to have a positive mindset from the moment their students walk into the school. If the educator is not excited about the subject they are teaching, it will be difficult for them to get the students interested in the topic. Therefore, a change in the teacher’s mindset and mood might be necessary if they want the students to feel welcome in their classroom.

Consider Introducing Meditation Into the Classroom

Teachers can also consider introducing their students to meditation. This practice comes with many benefits, from helping individuals focus on their work to improving their overall health. Studies have concluded that school-aged kids had better academic performance and better social skills as well as lower anxiety and depression scores if they were practising mindfulness. Of course, if a teacher plans on bringing meditation to the classroom, they will first have to develop a personal practice and preferably take a few classes to learn the best techniques.

Adjust the Classroom to All Sorts of Personalities

Besides the varying age of the potential students, their personalities also cannot be disregarded. While pre-schoolers will most certainly not use the same techniques as college students to learn a certain topic, there are other aspects to consider as well. For example, some approaches are better suited for extroverts which means that the introverts of the group might suffer and not receive the proper education. Mix collaborative work with individual assignments to let everyone thrive. In addition, keep in mind that some people are visual or auditory learners, others prefer the tactile approach and there are those that learn best through written words – so consider all learning styles to accommodate a diverse group of students.

Create a Flexible Environment for Learning

For students to feel supported, teachers also need to create an environment that is pleasant to be in. From motivational décor to providing students with ergonomic furniture, there are a lot of things to consider here. However, seeing as how various teaching methods should be used, the space also has to be as flexible as possible. The tables should be easy to group together and separate, for instance. That will allow for a much quicker change of scenery and support both group and solo work. The technology should also be heavily involved as every teacher should know its benefits by now. From computers, speakers and projectors that the educators will use to present the curriculum to their students to various gadgets that the students themselves can use, classroom technology comes in many shapes and forms.

Encourage Students to Take Risks and Fail

Seeing as how the classroom is there to teach us about the realities of everyday life, it should also acknowledge the fact that failure is not the end of the world. Students, especially young ones, need to experience failure as well in order to learn. To help with this, the teacher needs to come up with various projects that give students the opportunity to solve real-life problems. The point of this is that they will have a safe environment in which failure will not be judged but will only encourage them to try again until they succeed. Avoiding and ignoring mistakes will only have a detrimental effect on individual student growth. Another important aspect here is asking open-ended questions that have no textbook answer as that can lead to innovative ideas, collaboration among students and better contextualization of the issue.

Invite Speakers to Classes

Other than teaching that failure is not all bad, you can also invite people who can speak from experience. Whether those are entrepreneurs, innovators or motivational speakers, look for individuals who can share fun or educational stories and give the students some good advice. Teachers can reach out to these leaders online through various platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. In case there is no way to organize a face-to-face session, they can call in over Skype and speak to the students with a little help of technology.

These six approaches are just some of the many that teachers and schools can implement in order to make their classroom a more open and creative place where students can grow and feel comfortable.